The Fall 2011 Meeting of the NELRC was a tremendous success with almost 50 people in attendance. Cheryl Hackney of Shreveport presented a wonderful experience for those present as a "take back to school" activity. Pictures were taken of participants to place on the NELRC website, presentations were made to the Newspapers in Education winners for the 2010-2011 school year. Case Drurey was presented the 1st STATE winner award for kindergarten, and Trace O'Neal received an honorable mention for STATE for 2nd grade NIE. The boys' pictures were taken with past president Dr. Peggy Wheelis as she presented their awards. Both boys are from West Carroll Parish and students at Oak Grove Elementary.
Officers for the 2011-2012 were installed by past LRA president Kathy O'Neal.

Comments on Fall Meeting:
As part of our positive discipline I used a 4 Tab Foldable to illustrate the 4 CUBS expectations for our school. The kids had a blast with it, as it was much more fun than just copying down in their notes, and it made a terrific reminder display for our halls. Such a great workshop - one of the best I've ever been to.
By Tammy Temple of Ouachita Jr. High School 8th Grade Language Arts teacher

The NELRC Executive Board met on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 for long range planning for the upcoming 2011-2012 school year. Please see Meeting Minutes for more detailed information about the meeting.
The Board reviewed the 2 year focus for the council. The new theme will be "The Power of Reading". Meeting location will be the Ouachita Jr. High School Library and date will be either the last Saturday in Sept. or the first Sat. in Oct. and a mini conference in April. Recommended speakers for the event are being contacted by upcoming president, Dwanna Eady. Membership ideas were discussed as well as the Project Board (council promotion)-Dona Packer, IRS form-Curtis Pate, webpage updates-Kathy O'Neal, installation of officers-Jean Brown, awards will be presented at the fall meeting to NIE and Young Author winners-Peggy Wheelis, and committee chairs will be contacted-Dwanna Eady, Exemplary Reading Program-George Welch and ? were recommended. Plans for the upcoming year include a fall meeting and a mini-conference in April 2012. Several partnerships were discussed: fitness.
President Eady will contact district directors from each of the 12 school districts and ULM for continued support of LRA's goals.
The NELRC website will include a leadership link from the Louisiana Reading Association's site www.lareading.org. The link will include information for leaders with LRA.
A mini-conference planning session was scheduled for Thursday, September 8, 2011 at 4:30PM at the Ouachita Parish Media Center Library.

NELRC and Technolgy Fair
Saturday, March 5, 2011
The Northeast Louisiana Reading Council partnered with the Northeast Louisiana Technology Fair at West Monroe High School. Educators throughout the region participated in an outstanding day of quality professional development.

9:00 Business Meeting
10:00 Julie Teague, Co-Owner of Learning Wheels, Inc. will present a two hour training that will leave you with ideas you can take back and use right away in your center, for tutoring or in your regular classroom teaching. No matter where you use these games and activities, you are guaranteed to love what they bring! This is no boring "sit and get" session - this is a fast paced, hand-on interactive session that will leave you wanting more!
The first 50 teachers who sign in at the session will receive gift bags with their own copies of the games played that day, so don't be late!

10:00 – 10:50 “Reading the Brain”
Presented by Karen Williams
Private Consultant, Denison Texas
The presentation will be an overview of research on how children learn and implications for reading educators.

11:00 – 11:50 Breakout Sessions:
1. “Using Puppets to Teach Skills in Literature”
Author and retired Professor from La Tech University, Dr. Joy Lowe will share valuable information from her book Puppet Magic and have copies available for purchase/autographing after the session.
2. “The Myths of Puberty”
Karen Williams will present an overview of the 2004 study on adolescent brain development and how we are taking a second look at behaviors during puberty.
3. “Web-vertise Your Classroom and Library!”
Jan McGee, District Library Coordinator, will show you how to make blogs, screencasting, Shelfari, and Wordle part of your everyday conversation.

CLU’S you can use
Professional Development
Professional Literature
Opportunities for grants to promotes literacy
Opportunities to meet published children’s authors
Improve reading instructions
FIRST MEETING IS SATURDAY, OCTOBER 17, 2009
OUACHITA JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
5500 Blanks St., Monroe, La. 71203

The Northeast Louisiana Reading Council is a professional organization dedicated to promoting high levels of literacy for all by improving the quality of reading instruction, disseminating research and information about reading, and encouraging the lifetime reading habit. Our members include classroom teachers, reading specialists, consultants, administrators, supervisors, university faculty, researchers, psychologists, librarians, media specialists, and parents. With members and affiliates in 99 countries, our network extends to more than 300,000 people worldwide.

The Northeast Louisiana Reading Council serves its members with professional resources designed to further five goals:

Professional Development
to enhance professional development of reading educators worldwide

Advocacy
to support research, policy, and practice that improves reading instruction and promotes the best interests of all learners and reading professionals

Partnerships
to establish and strengthen national and international alliances with other organizations, including governmental, nongovernmental, and community agencies, businesses, and industries

Research
to encourage and support research that promotes informed decision making by reading professionals, policy makers, and the public

Global Literacy Development
to identify, focus, and provide leadership on significant literacy issues

For further information about the Council, browse through this section of our website by selecting pages from the menu on the left or contact one of the officers or membership directors.

Officers were welcomed and instructed to sign in and pick up a meeting agenda.

The meeting was conducted by Dr. Peggy Wheelis, Council President. She opened the meeting with the words to the song by Brad Paisley “Welcome to the Future.” The Council’s focus and theme for the next two years were discussed. The question was asked, “What will it take to get teachers to come out to a meeting on a Saturday morning?” Suggested topics from the group included: Using Centers, Differentiated Learning, Brain Based Research. Dr. Wheelis suggested a projected schedule for council meetings: 9:00 officers’ meeting, 10:00 Keynote speaker, and 11:00 break out sessions. After discussion, the group decided a theme: “The Future of Reading: Curriculum, Technology, and Strategies.” The focus for the next two years will be on Brozo’s strategies in the state Comprehensive Curriculum, integrating technology into classroom instruction, Brain Based Learning strategies, and Using Centers in Differentiated Instruction. The Council’s long range goals are to achieve IRA Honor Council and LRA Honor Council.

Possible meeting locations and dates were discussed and choices selected. Dr. Wheelis will contact the principal of Ouachita Junior High School for permission to meet there. The date for the 1st meeting will be Oct 3, 17, or 10. (Availability of meeting place will determine exact date). This will be the first regular council meeting for this year. Curtis Pate, Principal of Boley Elementary, brings an author to his school each year. Officers decided for our council to partner with him and have our next meeting at the same time as his meeting at school. This meeting will be in late January or early February. Spring Council Meeting will be held February 28 or 21.

Dr. Wheelis will contact possible keynote speakers such as Ann Buisson, Karen Williams, and Carrice Cummins to determine their availability and speaker fees. Speakers for break-out sessions for each meeting will also be contacted. NELRC will be partnering with the LA Association of School Librarians (LASL) for the next two years and a break-out session will be provided at each meeting that appeals to school librarians. Also, we would like to provide a session that appeals to middle school teachers in order to increase membership of middle school teachers.

Officers were given list of possible dates to remember for the 2009-2010 school year. The group brainstormed for other dates to highlight during the year. One date will be highlighted each month and teachers will be asked to report how they recognized the date in their classrooms. These reports will be posted on the NELRC website by Kathy O’Neal. Specific dates that will be recognized are: International Literacy Day, National Newspaper Week, National Young Readers’ Week, etc. The suggestion was made to post a link to the NELRC web site on each parish website in our council area.

All officers were asked to double check their IRA membership to be sure it is current so that we will be eligible for IRA Honor Council. Officers were encouraged to pay their LRA/NELRC dues today. (Membership goes from July 1 to June 30.)

Ideas for a Membership Drive were discussed. Ideas included:
· Encourage all Reading Interventionists to join.
· Post the enrollment form on our website.
· Email NELRC and IRA membership application forms to parishes and ask them to post them on their websites.
· Have building representatives to have applications on first day of school in-services and offer door prizes for those who join. NELRC will offer a gift card to the building rep who gets the most members.

Honor council requirements were distributed and presented by Leah Biley since attaining IRA and LRA Honor Council are the two long range goals for the Council. Discussion by the group followed which offered suggestions of how to meet each requirement in order to reach our goal.

A list of committees was distributed and possible names discussed for assignments. Dr. Wheelis will contact members to confirm assignments.

A Project Board Display for NELRC is needed. Leah Biley will have all the materials for the board and she will get them to DeWanna Eady who will create the board. Payment for materials will be reimbursed by the council. The display board will be completed by August 10 for use by Kathy O’Neal and for use by Dr. Wheelis on Aug. 11.

Dr. Wheelis gave each officer a packet with CD of files about LRA etc. All IRS forms are included on the CD with instructions to prepare the report. Curtis Pate, Treasurer will complete this task for NELRC. New ideas for the web page should be sent to Kathy O’Neal. Officers will be installed at the fall meeting by Director Jean Brown.

DeWanna Eady made a motion that travel costs be reimbursed to members (Leah Biley and Melba Collum) who attended the LRA Leadership Awards banquet. Carolyn Harden seconded. Treasurer Curtis Pate wrote checks and distributed them.

Discussion was held about purchasing promotional items for council meetings. Kathy O’ Neal suggested we have something with the council website address on it, such as a pen. Betty Rogers will get samples and prices and report to Dr. Wheelis.

· President Nancy Smith called the business meeting to order and introduced executive board members.
· A discussion was held concerning the affirmation of appointed officers due to no nominations or election. The executive board agreed to Nancy Smith’s appointment of officers as the following: Curtis Pate – Treasurer, Dwanna Eady – Membership, Glynda Cobb – Recording Secretary, Melea Walker – Corresponding Secretary. Other officers already elected included: Nancy Smith – President, Peggy Wheelis – President Elect, and no Vice President was appointed. In the Fall Professional Development Meeting, a motion may be made to accept the appointed positions until nominations are received.
· Nancy stated that an award will be presented at the Spring Meeting for past president since she was not available.
· Nancy Smith paid IRA dues personally for appointed officers, so the NELRC would meet Honor Council deadlines.
· IRA will be held in Atlanta, GA.
· Janet Fisher sent Young Author packets to each school district 2 weeks ago.
· LRA meeting will be April 18-19, 2008.
· NELRC spring meeting will be April 26, 2008.
· A conference stipend of $75 will be given to a new NELRC member attending the 2007 Conference in Baton Rouge if they have paid their own way (not reimbursed in anyway). One new member’s name will be drawn from a hat to select the recipient. If no new members, then one member attending the conference and paying his/her own way will be drawn.
· Author’s Night for Professional Development at Boley Elementary in Ouachita Parish will be Jan. 29, 2008 at 6PM. The author will be Shelly Gill from Alaska. Boley will host the Author Jan. 28-31, 2008. NELRC members may bring teacher or student supplies to donate for the International Project on Jan. 29 at Boley. The supplies will be submitted to LRA and donated to a school in south Louisiana. Boley has hosted the Author’s Night for at least 7 years with Principal Curtis Pate.
· LRA/NELRC membership is from July 1 until June 30 of each year no matter what date the dues are paid. IRA dues are paid annually and expire one year from the date they are paid.
· LRA 2007 Conference is Nov. 7-9, 2007 in Baton Rouge. Registration forms are available today.
· Membership forms are available today or may be downloaded at www.nelareading.org.
· NIE forms are available today. The NewsStar plans to host a reception to honor NIE teachers and select a 2007-2008 NIE Exemplary Teacher of the Year.
· Nancy Smith solicited student teacher memberships at LaTech (Nancy spoke to Student Teachers in August 2007) and ULM (Nancy contacted Dr. Flowers and sent materials.)
· AlphaFest with Cindy Foust will be in February and NELRC will partner to work with parents using Cindy’s literacy activities as a community service project.
· The Jr. League of Monroe requested a partnership with NELRC for Barkdull Fall School in Monroe City System on the Reading Night. The Jr. League provides food from food bank and a special night with parents including reading, math, technology and other activities. They have requested NELRC’s help on Reading Night.

Roll call was taken by the sign-in sheet. Seven officers and three members were present.

Melba Collum, recording secretary, distributed the minutes. A motion by Lynn Morris, seconded by Carolyn Harden, to accept the minutes with amendments was passed.

Treasurer Donna Brumley provided the financial report. Amendments to the budget were discussed due to an additional Wal-Mart grant that was received the morning of the meeting. Action of the amended budget will be taken at the fall meeting.

President O'Neal installed the new officers.

President O'Neal announced that proposals were due by August 28th for the LRA State Conference in Lafayette. She also announced that a location and date for the 2006 LRA State Conference in Monroe would be set by September 18.

The board discussed the necessity of changing the council's acronym of NLRC, as it is also the acronym of another reading council in the state. Nancy Smith made a motion to change the acronym to NELRC. Leah Biley seconded the motion. The motion passed four to two to change the council's acronym to NELRC.

Crystal Fant made a motion to secure author Mike Artell as keynote speaker for the NELRC Fall Meeting. The motion was seconded by Dr. Peggy Wheelis and passed unanimously.

A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Lynn Morris and seconded by Carolyn Harden. The meeting was adjourned at 11:16 A.M.

The foregoing minutes of the Northeast Louisiana Reading Council Executive Board Meeting are hereby submitted.

Melba Collum, Recording Secretary

NLRC Business Meeting
Saturday, April 17, 2004
University of Louisiana-Monroe
Strauss 148

President Kathy O'Neal called the meeting to order and asked President-elect Lynn Morris to lead the group in prayer.
Recording Secretary Melba Collum called roll.
Officers' reports were presented:
Kathy O'Neal stated the names of guests for the Spring Meeting, requested that the group remember to pray for Awards Chairperson Vickie Green due to her diagnosis of cancer, requested the group also remember Carol Pevehouse's knee surgery, stated that NLRC would recognize Katherine Vaughn as Educator Emeritus, stated that Dr. Harry Miller had also been contacted, but he could not attend, stated that Reading Promotion Projects would be judged on 1st floor of Strauss beginning at 8:45-9:15 A.M., stated that 2 authors were available for Fall Authors in the Schools and needed to be approved, stated that author Cindy Foust was present with book display.
Lynn Morris stated her request for officers to remain for 2004-2005 and that nominations were made at last meeting due to her dissertation and also Nancy Smith's request as well, stated that door prizes and refreshment would be available, stated that she had appointed a conference committee and that state and district will help with conference and that others were welcome to join the committee.
Vice President Nancy Smith stated that the LRA leadership would be July 15-17, 2004 in Baton Rouge, 2004 conference would be in Lafayette on Nov. 10-12, 2004, NLRC Leadership Retreat would be May 1, 2004, an IRA delegate was needed for Reno, LRA conference proposals were available on literature display, stated speakers names also.
Melba Collum documented attendance with sign-in, delivered minutes, and stated that certificates would be available.
Motion was made to accept minutes and were approved.
New Corresponding secretary Peggy Wheelis was asked by President to send Blanco a thank you for support of literacy, Walmart grants would not be utilized this year, surveys were available, and that superintendents and BESE member be sent honorary memberships from NLRC.
Treasurer Donna Brumley reported balance after Prelude, Jerry Pallotta, Bonita Elem.'s 100%.
Motion was made to accept treasurers report and were approved.
Membership director Crystal Fant was not present. Kathy ONeal requested all members update address and email information when signing in, stated that membership drives were held during the Alpha-Fest, Jerry Pallotta, and that the LRA conference received the greatest increase in membership. Kathy ONeal encouraged everyone to attend and get information out to their schools.The greatest increase in membership came from Morehouse and Richland this year.
District reports were requested:
Melba Collum documented district members present.
Ouachita parish's director Janet Fisher stated that Carolyn Harden would represent Ouachita parish. Madison parish director Pat Candler was present with a group of educators. Parishes represented were Morehouse, Richland, West Carroll, East Carroll, Madison and Catahoula.
Committee Reports were presented:
Awards will be presented at Spring Meeting and ballot samples with the election ballot was available for suggestions.
Bylaws/Election - election ballot will be included in the dual ballot.
Community Project is parents' night with author and Dollywood project is available.
Educators as authors presenter Kathy Sims was not present.
Grants and scholarship forms available on display.
Exemplary school needed to be recommended, only one site visit required.
Honor Council chairperson Leah Biley stated that eveyone needs to provide documentation to her for NRLC's Honor Council-Carrice reminded everyone that May 1 was the date for 1st form to be submitted.
International project-reminded everyone to bring supplies for Tanzinia-other countries would be considered upon request.
Legislative Advocacy-IRA press release praises Bush for adolescent literacy.
Student membership-Dr. Dawn Hardin will help other professors at ULM.
Literacy-study group date change to July 31, 2004.
Speakers' Bureau needs suggested speakers for fall and spring-must have credibility for CLUs,Hospitality refreshments and door prizes.
Newspaper in education presenter Kathy Sims not present.
Pubications consider membership cards, brochure with website-goals-dates, etc.
Public Relation possible chairperson Dr. Frank Hoffman and requests of Cindy Foust to speak with Joyce Revoir since she is marketing major.
Long Range Planning Committee meet with Dona Holloway and Peggy Wheelis for Conference 2006.
Position papers-several articles were recommended for reading from websites.
Partnership with Cindy Foust and requests for ULM sorority with Lynn Morris.
Young author state winners will be announced at Spring Meeting.
Old Business: officer nominations, conference committee meeting dates at later time, new chairpersons needed, literacy study group dates, approval of conference chairperons.
New Business: approval of officers, no dates or location for conference set, approval of authors in school with credentials recommendations to Kathy O'Neal & committee, approval of Election/award ballot to be mailed in fall and postmarked by 1-31-05 to chairperson.
Adjournment

Executive Board Meeting
Joe-Muggs Cafe/Books-A-Million
Saturday, March 27, 2004
Begin 9:30 A.M.
President Kathy O'Neal called the meeting to order.
President-Elect Lynn Morris lead in prayer.
Secretary Melba Collum took roll with attendance sign-in. Of those members present, 5/6 officers were present.
Minutes from past meeting will be read at Spring Meeting.

Officers report:
President Kathy O'Neal reported:
1. 2006 conference Chairperson and Committee was needed to be recommended, so it can be given to LRA at April 3 meeting.
2. Past presidents will be recognized at Spring Meeting.
3. Chairpersons needed for: young authors (Carol Pevehouse has had an unsuccessful knee surgery and she is taking care of her husband with cancer), awards (Vickie Green has been diagnosed with cancer and is traveling for treatment),and public relations positions needed to be filled.
4. LRA Meeting in Ruston on April 3, 2004 at Ramada Inn.
5. Corresponding secretary is needed.
6. Reminder for all officers to keep a current IRA membership for Honor Council and all Awards.
7. Nominations and selection of awards for Spring Meeting. Vickie called and asked Kathy to finish the awards process. Award nominations and selections will be presented at Spring Meeting: Reading Teacher of the Year-Leah Biley, Librarian of the Year-Melba Collum, Principal of the Year-Nancy Smith, Educator of the Year-Lynn Morris, and Celebrate Literacy Award-Kathy O'Neal (nominated by Nancy Smith and announced in January by Peggy Wheelis Literacy Chairperson at Literacy Book Study.)
8. Scholarships and grants are not being sought for from NLRC members.

President-Elect Lynn Morris and Vice President Nancy Smith requested that due to extenuating circumstances, all officers remain for the upcoming year of 2004-2005 to continue in the best interest of the council.

Hospitality Chairperson Dona Holloway requested recognizing Katherine Vaughn for her outstanding work in past years with the NLRC as well as past presidents. Nancy Smith suggested the recognition be callled Educator Emeritus for the dedication of many years of service to the NLRC.

Recommendations were made for Dr. Frank Hoffman as Public Relations, Janet Fisher as Young Authors, and Jerrilene Washington as Awards.

Lynn Morris, President-Elect recommended Dr. Dona Holloway as Conference Chairperson and Dona requested Dr. Peggy Wheelis as a co-chair. Dona selected a committee that would include Nancy Smith, Cyrstal Fant, and Leah Biley. Several members expressed concern for including all parishes in the conference due to past council history of fading interest of other parishes. Nancy Smith suggested including each parish by them having take a part in each day's events at the LRA conference. Each committee members will have contact with individual parish members to bring consistency throughout northeast Louisiana. Dona will contact the Monroe Tourism office to gather information about possible sites for the conference and lodging.

Several members stated that they plan to attend the LRA Meeting on April 3, 2004. The number will be submitted to LRA president for breakfast.

Kathy O'Neal suggested that Peggy Wheelis become corresponding secretary for the upcoming year.

Kathy O'Neal recommended that Peggy Wheelis be nominated as Vice-President when Lynn Morris becomes president and Nancy Smith become President-elect. Kathy O'Neal stated that she would accept a nomination as corresponding secretary after her presidency to help new officers with responsibilities.

Hospitality committee will provide muffins and juice for Spring Meeting.

A suggestion was made to contact Dr. Dawn Hardin about ULM student involvement to secure scholarships.

New business:
Lynn Morris made the motion and Nancy Smith seconded for a nomination of officers that will be approved at Spring Meeting.

Meeting adjourned at 10:05 A.M.

The Literacy Study Group met at 10:05 A.M. with Dr. Peggy Wheelis as facilitator and Ms. Melba Collum as coordinator. Dr. Wheelis provided chapter 1 and a table of contents. Ms. Collum provided materials as needed. The group enjoyed discussion of the book and was excited about the next opportunity to share.
At the close of the session, Dr. Dona Holloway recommended that the next study include the March 2004 Issue of EDUCATIONAL LEADERSHIP due to the extensive promotion of literacy within the issue.
The group decided to have the Literacy Study Group on Saturday, July 17, 2004, after the 2004-2005 officers' installation at ULM Strauss Room 202 rather having another meeting.
The meeting adjourned at 11:00 A.M.
Many members lingered in Books-A-Million for more discussion and to purchase books.